Now where is the vision?

May 15, 2002

To the Editor:

The problem with new retail development here in Gaylord is that there doesn't seem to be a master plan for it. It is happening haphazardly. The developers buy up large tracts of land for the investment; the townships approve the developments for the tax base; and the city/county officials give their approval as long as there is compliance with the existing ordinances. The "powers that be" are allowing the rapid retail growth we are currently witnessing.

Do we have a vision for what our Alpine Village community should look like in 20 years? Do we have an agenda for retail development? Have we zoned too much property for commercial use out west M-32 - the most vulnerable area for new development? How can we contain retail development before we end up with a glut of new stores placed randomly or in strip malls along that already congested corridor? How many strip malls will we build before we realize that the same number of stores could have been located in one large regional shopping center? The well-planned Air Industrial Park successfully located many new industries in one regional area.

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The Alpine Village concept for the community of Gaylord was realized with much long-range planning. It has made our city unique, and much of our outlying development has reflected its image. Hopefully, we will not let urban sprawl development, so prevalent elsewhere, tarnish that image. We commend Bagley Township supervisors and Festival land developers for having submitted well-conceived, future-oriented plans for both the True North Crossing Mall and a new water treatment/sewer system to service not only the businesses on Old 27 south of McCoy Road, but eventually, residences on Otsego Lake. Unfortunately, these projects were intercepted by myopic legal maneuvering. Where is the vision?